Staff at the Edmonton Remand Centre were punched in the face or head on five separate occasions in the days before a lockdown at the provincial jail late last year, according to records from Alberta Justice.

Officials in December said the 12-hour lockdown by remand centre staff was triggered by an increase in “serious assaults” on correctional officers. The reported violence later led to restrictions on how often inmates are allowed out of their cells. But the province provided few details about the nature of the alleged assaults.

Postmedia filed a freedom of information request for summaries of assaults on remand centre staff in a two-month period that included the lockdown.

The records show 27 alleged assaults on remand centre staff between last Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, according to the records obtained by Postmedia.

Scott Conrad, chairman of Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) Local 003 and a correctional officer at the Calgary Remand Centre, said it was a particularly violent period.

“There should never, ever — regardless of what your job is — be an expectation of violence,” Conrad said. “Unfortunately, our members right now have … an above average chance of witnessing or being involved with some level of violence on an almost daily basis.”

Dangerous December

During the eight-day span from Dec. 7 to Dec. 14, there were five assaults, all of which involved inmates punching jail staff in the face or head.

On Dec. 7, a male inmate set to be transferred to the Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre “began to argue and then spit in the face of the staff member,” a summary reads. The inmate then punched the staff member in the face.

The following day, an inmate punched a staff member in the face during a pat-down search, the summary states. The day after that an inmate in a medication line “breached” the staff station and began to punch a male employee in the head.

On Dec. 14, the day before the lockdown, a male inmate punched a staff member in the face while returning to his cell in an unprovoked attack.

Edmonton police said the inmate, Byron Bird, was charged with assaulting a peace officer after an incident that day. The documents obtained through the freedom of information request are silent on whether any discipline or criminal charges stemmed from the reported assaults.

The new Edmonton Remand CentrePostmedia, file

Several other pieces of information were redacted, including the names of the inmates, whether they had known mental health concerns at the time of the assaults, the time of the assault and the location within the jail because the information could identify the correctional officer.

Male inmates were involved in 22 of the assaults — more than 80 per cent. Female inmates were responsible for five.

More than 1,000 assaults reported at remand last year

Alberta Justice officials said the remand centre has since created a new schedule for time spent outside of cells designed to address “behaviour management” issues after December discussions with the AUPE. Inmates at the remand are typically in pre-trial custody and have not been convicted.

Under the new system, a “minority” of inmates will have their time out of cells staggered or changed, said spokeswoman Louise McEachern. Time spent outside cells is based on an inmate’s behaviour and the unit’s security level, and currently ranges between 3-1/2 hours and 11 hours per day, she said.

The 1,952-capacity remand centre was designed to allow inmates more time out of cells to make phone calls and access programs. It also was built on a “direct supervision” model with fewer barriers between inmates and staff, which officials said would help correctional officers “maintain direct and frequent interaction with inmates to help build effective working relationships.”

Union officials, however, said at the time that the new model put staff at risk.

The new Edmonton Remand CentrePostmedia, file

Government statistics show an increase in overall assaults since the new remand centre opened, but it’s difficult to say how much of this can be attributed to a larger inmate population and increased number of correctional officers. (The downtown remand centre which it replaced in 2013 was built for 348 inmates but was often more than double capacity.)

There were a total of 1,057 assaults at the remand centre during the 2016-17 fiscal year, Alberta Justice officials said. That’s up from 894 in 2015-16.

In 2011-12, when the old remand centre was still operating, there were 428 reported assaults.

A spokesperson said the statistics include all alleged and confirmed assaults at the remand centre, but could not provide a breakdown of how many were inmate-on-inmate versus inmate-on-guard assaults.

Conrad, the union leader, said the rotation system introduced a month ago makes working at the remand centre safer. He added it was already in place at other provincial correctional facilities, as well as the old remand centre.

Allowing inmates more time outside cells can be a good thing “in theory,” he said. “However, what we’re learning — or hopefully learning — is that that does not always mean that inmates are going to act accordingly.”

What the records say

There were reportedly 27 assaults on staff at the Edmonton Remand Centre between last Nov. 1 and Dec. 31. Here are a few examples of the descriptions provided by Alberta Justice.

Nov. 1 — Inmate contacted staff and said she would harm herself if not taken out of segregation. Inmate escalated and began to throw herself against her cell walls. Inmate fell to the floor and became unresponsive. Staff entered the cell to help the inmate and began to help her to her feet. Inmate then began to punch the staff members, hitting both staff in the face. During restraint the inmate bit a staff member, breaking the skin.

Nov. 11 — During hospital (admission) the inmate spit in an officer’s eye when being moved to a different hospital room. No internal charges were submitted due to the inmate’s diminished mental state.

Dec. 2 — Inmate had been accusing staff of (losing) his cell property over the cell intercom. Staff eventually went to the cell to speak with the inmate. With the door secured the inmate appeared calm and was sitting on his bed. When staff entered the cell the inmate stood up, rushed at staff and punched staff in the face.

Dec. 6 — During a medication round the inmate was upset that his meds were dissolved in water. He then threw the liquid with dissolved medication in the staff member’s face through the open meal slot.

Dec. 28 — Staff were investigating on the unit for a suspected brew. Inmate became confrontational with staff. Staff had to disconnect the (inmate’s) phone call and requested her to approach the staff station. Inmate was directed to lock up in her cell, which she refused. Staff went to physically escort the inmate when she turned and punched the staff member in the face.

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